Impulsive hot tub purchases...motives of the heart...and the cry of the poor...

Have I mentioned that I purchased/ordered a hot tub and cabana house when I went to the State Fair last week? Probably not...

My tendency to make impulse purchases is alive and well, but I think Proverbs 21 may put an end to my unwise behavior. We'll start today with a verse that is sufficiently general to sweep up all of us in the dragnet of it's message:

"All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart."

Do we look at ourselves and our behavior through a hazy film of rationalization and self-justification? Of course we do! If you've ever struggled with an addiction, a broken relationship, or even an extravagant and self-indulgent purchase, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The beginning of the journey to wisdom and spiritual transparency is the willingness to absorb the truth of a verse like this one, and say, "Yep...that's me alright!"

There were a couple more verses in this chapter of Proverbs that acted like a dragnet for me, sweeping me up and forcing me to look at some recent decisions in a new light:

"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered."

Before you instinctively jump to your own defense with respect to how you respond to helping the poor, I encourage you to just sit still for a few moments, and let this verse wash over you a few times....forget about value judgments...forget about personal or political-social attitudes and philosophy...and just...sit with it...

I read another woman's blog this morning, and by either wild coincidence or divine providence, she wrote about her current trip to India, and what it is like to see the poverty there...for me, reading that blog, today of all days, reinforced for me the importance of what I need to write this morning.

And now, it is my turn to reveal how very far I am from the spiritual ideal, lest you think that I am "preaching" to you, rather than to myself...on this Friday past, I went to the Texas State Fair, and made a wild impulse purchase...a hot tub with a cabana house. I would like to say that I have nothing against hot tubs. Taken on its own, I think the hot tub is a value-neutral item, so this isn't about 'demonizing' the item. But remember the verse about how the Lord weighs our hearts?

The impulsive decision to purchase/order a hot tub flew in the face of some other recently made decisions and commitments about my personal financial stewardship, and as I read Proverbs 21 last night and today, I became keenly aware of the conflict between my commitments and my unplanned purchase of a hot tub...as if the first 2 verses were not enough...2 more verses followed closely behind, hammering home the principles that I must consider:

"He who loves pleasure will become poor, and whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich."

In biblical literature, "wine and oil" are symbolic of extravagant indulgences...in my reading of the verse, the focus of the admonition is on stewardship...if you're always spending your money on extravagant indulgences, you'll never save any money. As it relates to life in these United States in 2010, it almost certainly means you'll spend your lifetime buried under an avalanche of credit card debt...and we all know where excessive credit card debt will get you...

Finally, this verse:

"In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has."

See there, God isn't against our having "choice food and oil" (i.e., the nicer things in life)...but for most of us, we have to admit that we haven't managed our resources like the "house of the wise." Why does all of this matter today, and why should you even both to pay any attention to what I'm saying?

I believe it really does matter, and these verses call me to ponder a few things that I hope you'll take time to ponder with me:

1. How does being in debt impact or even limit my ability to be generous in my giving?

2. What is my plan with respect to helping the poor wherever I can?

3. Am I listening to the cry of the poor, or ignoring it?

4. Am I wisely managing my money and saving it appropriately, or am I "devouring all that I have"?

Fortunately for me, I can make one phone call and reverse the impulsive decision to purchase a hot tub, but sometimes our financial decisions are much more difficult to undo...or worse, they can't be undone. So today, I encourage all of us to take a closer look at whether we're devouring all that we have, or whether perhaps, we're building a house of wisdom. And my final word today...consider the power of the scripture...because if you allow it to, it can change the way you interpret and live your life!